Everything died but the fish.

[srobertb]

I’ve been away for a while but am circling back and trying to get on top of things.


My tank basically crashed and after months of banging my head against the wall I got an ICP test.

Iron 32 ug/l

Zinc 37.1

Tin 75

I think I understand the Zinc (fitting on my ro/di container).

In my fish room about 4’ away from the tank are metal chrome shelving units (like the ones Lowe’s sells). They do have some rust on them. Could this be leeching into the tank at that distance? I also have 2 galvanized pipe clamps holding my drain and return lines in place- both positioned about 12” above the water. They look ok.

The system is 300-400 gallons. I wouldn’t think these small items would cause such huge issues. There’s no other copper or metal pipe in the system.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Tin often comes from plastics, such as pvc or flexible tubing.

The iron is fine.

What died?

 

[srobertb]

Tin often comes from plastics, such as pvc or flexible tubing.

The iron is fine.

What died?

…20 BTA’s, Zoas, acropora’s, LPS. I think I have a bounce mushroom rock that’s sickly but holding on.

Not even the caulerpa in the refugium is ok. There’s more foamy sludge in there than anything. I scoop it out daily.

Phosphate and Nitrate have been reading 0 for awhile and the lab test confirmed that.


I’m running about 15’ up from the basement using Spa hose and schedule 40 PVC (up and down). Lowe’s/Home Depot stuff. I’m using those large plastic horse tubs for my sump and refugium.


The silicon in my RO/Di is absolutely wild and I think explains the diatoms and sludge algae. Trying to figure that one.

RODI- Silicon 1036ug/l. Zinc 47 ug/l. Literally everything else is “non detectable”


I have good maintenance practices on my RODI. This one is leaving me gobsmacked. I have a new fitting for my 50g ato tank that’s all plastic. The existing one has a small amount of metal on it. The 50g tank is marked potable. I have a silicon test kit coming today and I’m going to use it to test…everything.


I’ve had such great success in reefing (with some falls here and there). I’ve never experienced anything like this.


The system is setup for continuous water changes but not 50g water “chunk” water changes so I’m going to work on that this weekend. Basically just try and replace all the water over a weekend after I’ve confirmed my RO/Di and fresh SW doesn’t have metals and silica in it.


Will Tin or Zinc cause mass die off? The tank looks awful. It smells like mold. Fish seem fine (more or less).


I have to mention in the last month, to get rid of the cyano and sludge, I used the Dr Tim’s stuff which resolved the cyano and while it didn’t help the corals, it did not appear to hurt anything for a week or two after.

 

[srobertb]

Tin often comes from plastics, such as pvc or flexible tubing.

The iron is fine.

What died?

I wanted to add: I have a small 10g sump-less anemone system that is doing very well using the same ATO water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The zero nutrients aren't helping the situation, and may be a significant part of it.

Can you post the full ICP of the tank water?

 

[srobertb]

The zero nutrients aren't helping the situation, and may be a significant part of it.

Can you post the full ICP of the tank water?

 

[srobertb]

The zero nutrients aren't helping the situation, and may be a significant part of it.

Can you post the full ICP of the tank water?

I can not, despite my best efforts (over feeding and dosing), get nitrates and phosphates up over trace which lead to algae blooms or diatoms, cyano, and a filmy scum on my refugium that seems to kill and outcompete caulerpa when I do get detectable numbers.

Using a Seachem Silicate test I have determined that my ro/Di is picking up silicates from my water storage container as the RO/Di direct from the filter does not have a detectable amount in it. The container is a 50g potable-safe, UV stabilized, HDPE container.

 

[srobertb]

I should mention that prior to this test I had basically stopped dosing calcium and alk (Red Sea premixed) because everything was dead..

I just cleaned the scum out of the refugium and now have a white, thick, slime in my refugium that smells absolutely volatile but some caulerpa is actually growing.

 

[srobertb]

I can not, despite my best efforts (over feeding and dosing), get nitrates and phosphates up over trace which lead to algae blooms or diatoms, cyano, and a filmy scum on my refugium that seems to kill and outcompete caulerpa when I do get detectable numbers.

Using a Seachem Silicate test I have determined that my ro/Di is picking up silicates from my water storage container as the RO/Di direct from the filter does not have a detectable amount in it. The container is a 50g potable-safe, UV stabilized, HDPE container.

As an update: I replaced my ro/di resin,
Cleaned my holding tank, and removed the metal splitter and my silicate test is now reading 0

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This water has some very serious issues, some of which cannot be solved by simple dosing. Very high calcium, very low sulfate, very low potassium. High tin and zinc.

I know it is not what you want to hear on a system this big, but water changes may be the best plan. Perhaps not the only plan, but it solves many problems at once. Draining nearly all the water and refilling, if possible, will be least expensive if doing water changes.

 

[srobertb]

This water has some very serious issues, some of which cannot be solved by simple dosing. Very high calcium, very low sulfate, very low potassium. High tin and zinc.

I know it is not what you want to hear on a system this big, but water changes may be the best plan. Perhaps not the only plan, but it solves many problems at once. Draining nearly all the water and refilling, if possible, will be least expensive if doing water changes.

I think you’re right. I wanted to get the ATO water back in line and reading zero as well as remove the metal splitter that supplied the ro/di water out from the container- which I did yesterday. It now reads undetectable on silicates and 0 TDS (as usual).

There is something new growing in the refugium. It is a white slime/gelatinous substance. I attempted to remove some of it yesterday and the smell made me lightheaded and I had a “I need to get to fresh air” moment.

My refugium is separate from the tank so I plan on taking it offline, cleaning it completely while wearing a respirator, and using new sand, LR, and some macro algae. So far whatever this stuff is hasn’t reached anywhere else in the system.

The system is 300-400 gallons and so a “one shot” water change won’t be possible for me. I am moving the mixing station with a 50g rubbermade tote next to the tank so I can at least do large 50g water changes at a time.

I have purchased cuprisorb and if you have any opinion on that, I’d appreciate it.

 

[srobertb]

I did a 200g water change (managed to do 2, 100g water changes). I also completely cleaned and scrubbed down my refugium and have put a small amount of sand in it. I plan to reseed with gulf live rock, pods, and chaeto today.